1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to latch devices and more particularly to the latch devices of a type that includes a base member, a pivotal member that is pivotally connected to the base member to pivot in a latch/release direction and a torsion spring that is mounted on the pivotal member to bias the pivotal member in the latch direction. More specifically, the present invention relates to such latch device and a method of assembling the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, various latch devices of the above-mentioned type have been proposed and put into practical use particularly in the field of motor vehicles. However, some of them are difficult to be assembled due to their inherent construction.
For example, in latch devices for latching a lid to a console box of a motor vehicle, there is a type that includes a base member that is fixed to the lid, a pivotal hook member that is pivotally connected to the base member and selectively engaged with and released from a catch portion of the console box to assume a latch/release position, and a torsion spring that is mounted on the pivotal hook member to bias the pivotal hook member to pivot in the latch direction.
That is, when the lid is rested on the console box while taking a close position, the latch device takes the latch position with the aid of a biasing force produced by the torsion spring. When the pivotal hook member is pivoted in the release direction against the biasing force of the torsion spring, the pivotal hook member is released from the catch portion of the console box. Thus, under this condition, if pulled upward with a certain force, the lid is permitted to pivot upward with ease.
As is understood from the above, the torsion spring in the latch device is arranged to constantly bias the pivotal hook member in the latch direction. That is, in the latch device, the torsion spring is kept stressed or twisted to constantly produce the biasing force.
Thus, for assembling the latch device, a work is needed for applying the torsion spring with a stress or twist. For such work, it has been employed that one end of the torsion spring is pulled out against a biasing force of the spring and hooked to a catch part formed on the base member. However, such work is difficult or at least troublesome because the biasing force produced by the torsion spring during the pulling work of the spring end is not small and thus considerably obstructs the setting work all the time. Actually, due to such difficulty, the assembling work takes a long time.